Long-sought bill to help dental care on tribal land is first to pass Legislature

[TexasTowelie]

The easy passage of the first bill to make it through the Legislature this year showed little of the controversy that has dogged the issue for years at the Capitol.

Senate Bill 5079 seeks to improve oral health on reservations by allowing tribes access to federal dollars when using midlevel dental care providers, known as dental therapists. Dental therapists provide preventative care and procedures, such as oral exams, X-rays and crowns.

Though dental therapists aren’t legal in the state, tribes — as sovereign nations — can allow them to operate.

But a federal measure says states must approve dental therapists for tribes to pay for their services through Medicaid, a government health care program for low-income people.

Read more here: http://www.theolympian.com/news/politics-government/article132077209.html

[KT2000]

1. good to see inroads

and I hope this spreads. Dental assistants now do most of the work in a dental office.